The Washington critic., 1887-08-24
WASHINGTON, AUGUST qt, 1887
REFORM IN scnooL Mnrnops.

WASHINGTON, AUGUST 2t, 1887.
REFORM IN SCHOOL METHODS.
Mr.. Fish of the School Board is on
the right tack in regard to the ar.
rangement Of studies, so that children
in certain grades shall not be compelled
to study out of school hours. Little
children, especially should be relieved
of this necessity. 1t involves too much
brain work and too great strain on
the physical powers. The closing of
the school room each day should be
the signal for the closing of the school
books.
Asit is now, we are Inclined to thlnls
that far too much rs trQuirtl of young
pupils. Take the fourth grade for in.
stance, with It's niue studies. including
Mineralogy, and the ftn grade with
the same number or Studies including
Physiology. Ills utterly ont of the
question for the scholars 10 more than
get through their rtclnii1ns aud give
proper attention to lhyir exercises In
drawing, music aud pcnmanshlp dur
ing the time allotted 10 instruction.
We adGlt that variety Of studies is
not Objectionable but there is such II
thing as au excess OF studies, and this
is gravely obiecti, uable u imposes
too heavy an intellectual ts,k upon
childen at an age when their bodily
rather than their mental development
should be the chief object of consiIera.
tion; or, at least, when thhG former
should not be sacrihSGd or subordlnated
to the latter.
with the present curriculum OF
s'udieS in the grades mentioned there
'fs-Yo time for study during school
hours. The entire day is occupied
with recitations, and the child goes
home at night, not to rest from the
wearisome eXactions of the day, but
10 continue them, often till late In the
evening and necessarily by artificial
light. Here are the lessons in gram.
mar and arithmetic and geography to
be learned. 1t is here that the tired
pupils pursue their mineralogical and
physiological investigations, and the
whole evening which, by good rights,
and on rational sanitary principles
"N"uld be devoted TO recreation or re.
Sc, is consumed with tasks that
annot fail to impair the strength,
however much or feverishly 1t may
stimulate the child's ambition.
Many are the parents who can testify
TO this condition of things, and many
also are those who, being called on by
their children for assistance in the
studies of the night find themselves
unable 10 demonstrate problem or
aualy2e sentence according to
modern methods, aud whose help Is,
therefore, of little avail
There are Plumbers of children, no
doubt, who prefer to study at home
WHO have comforts and convenlcnces
which enable them to do so. But how
largely greater the number who are
forced to home study under the most
comf0rlless and disadvantageous cir
cumstances.
The reform that we suggest is not
that children should be forbidden to
study when and where they please, but
that they should not be compelled to
learn their lessons out of school hours
Even If the reform cannot be brought
about without reducing the number of
studies, better so than to perpetuate Il
system which is yearly sowing the seeds
of disease among the rising generation,
and cutting short the glowing promise
OF their youth.
Mr.. Fish's suggestion is an eminently
practical one, and 1t should be the first
duty of the School Board to consider
whether 1t is not also practicable.
1T APPEARS 10 be about as difficult to
procure information from the Indian
outbreak in Colorado as 1t is to get at
the inside facts of the Bulgarian situa-
ton or the exact whereabouts of Ex.
plorer Stanley. The alacrlty with
which General Reardon and Sheriff
Kendall are executing all sorts of mill
tary maneuvers through the Associated
Press dispatches would indicate, how.
ever, that there Is good deal of a
scare on,
A LARGE number of members of the
English House of Commons have signei
memorial in favor Of arbitraling ali
differences between the United States
and Great Britain, which cannot b. al.
iu.ted by ordinary diplomatic meth ,d4
The memorial, It is understood, will he
personally presented To The President
this fall by distinguished deputaiuu
of Englishmen, headed by Audre 5
Carnegie.
THERE should be no confusion in tn,
public mind as to the nu'i1ndl,y Gf th
estimablc gentleman who Is now en-
gagged in on investigation uf the NeV
York Emigration Commissioner
arising ont Of the manner IN which s,
many Of the papers persist in spelling
his name. David OEey is just as goo,
name as David Okey, bu. HE gentle
man in question lays no claim to th
aposrophe.
THE principal grievance Of the Vir
ginia Republicans toward their Demo
cratic brethren seems % be that thr
latter offered the foreign hondholder
better terms of settlement Of the Stat
debt than were ever offered before
This Is grave and unpardonable of
fensc IN the estimation Of all sound Re
pudIationisls,
THERE Is one thing in the Philadel